Cartoon 77: Three Years of House Arrest
February 14, 2014, marked three years since Mehdi Karroubi, Mir Hossein Mousavi, and Zahra Rahnavard were placed under a de facto and illegal house arrest in Tehran. ...
Assembly / Association
Release Government Critics from Three-Year House Arrest
The Iranian government must end the inhumane practice of holding its critics under house arrest for years without due process, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today. February 14, 2014, marks three years since Mehdi Karroubi, Mir Hossein Mousavi, and Zahra Rahnavard were placed under a de facto and illegal house arrest ...
President Rouhani’s New Rights Charter
On November 26, 2013, President Rouhani’s government published a draft Citizens’ Rights Charter and solicited public reaction. The publication of this draft within the first 100 days of his presidency was widely seen as a major step by his administration to address his promises to improve the state of human rights in Iran. ...
Security Forces Illegally Arrest Striking Workers
In an action labor leaders are calling “illegal,” security forces have arrested over 20 workers of the Chadormalu Mine in the central province of Yazd, including the head and the secretary of the labor union, who stopped work as part of a contract negotiation and labor dispute. Prominent labor unionist Mansour Osanloo told the International ...
“Drawing Repression”: New Book Illustrates 52 Weeks of Human Rights in Iran
This new book of editorial cartoons by leading Iranian artist Touka Neyestani chronicles one year of human rights issues in Iran. ...
Intelligence Ministry Reviews Cases of Iranian Expats for Return
Iran has established a secretariat for the Committee for the Return of Expat Iranians, inside Iran’s Intelligence Ministry, the Deputy Foreign Minister for Consular, Parliamentary, and Iranian Expatriate Affairs Hassan Qashqavi said in an interview with Tadbir News Website. “The Committee’s meetings are regularly held at the Intelligence Ministry, and the Intelligence Ministry has achieved ...
President Rouhani’s Draft Citizenship Rights Charter: English Translation
The full English text of the Draft Citizenship Rights Charter proposed by President Hassan Rouhani and widely circulated for feedback, is available thanks to UN Special Rapporteur Ahmed Shaheed and the Human Rights in Iran Unit at the City University of New York – Brooklyn College. ...
Ill Journalist Could Be Released from Prison Under New Penal Code
A source close to the family of imprisoned Iranian journalist Kayvan Samimi, 65, who has been hospitalized since November, told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that the new Islamic Penal Code allows for his release, adding that his family hopes he can be released as soon as possible. ...
Student Activist Released for Five-Day Furlough After 55 Months in Jail
After 55 months in prison, most of which has been spent in exile, Iranian student activist Zia Nabavi was released on bail of approximately $168,000 for a five-day furlough today, a source told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. ...
Iran’s Justice Minister Says Detained Opposition Leaders Should Receive No Trial
Justice Minister Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi In statements during a speech in the city of Mashhad, Iran's Justice Minister Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi said yesterday that a trial for imprisoned 2009 presidential candidates ...
Cartoon 76: Punishing Families
Imprisoned activist Bahareh Hedayat has been experiencing serious health issues that could potentially leave her sterile if left untreated, her husband told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. “Bahareh suffers from ...
Iran Should Release Imprisoned Activist for Urgent Medical Treatment
The Iranian Judiciary should immediately release imprisoned student activist Bahareh Hedayat before continued imprisonment and lack of adequate medical treatment for her chronic reproductive system problems cause irreversible damage to her health, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today. The Judiciary and the Prisons Organization should also release the other activists still ...
Culture Minister Asks Judiciary to Provide More Freedom of Expression
Iran’s Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ali Jannati publicly stated that the Iranian Judiciary should join the Rouhani administration in providing more freedom of expression to Iranian media and artists, drawing strong criticism from Iran’s Prosecutor General and Spokesperson for the Judiciary Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejehi for his remarks to Al Jazeera. ...
Authorities Close Cultural Events in Tehran Despite Rouhani’s Recent Support of Artists
Over the past few days, Iranian authorities have inexplicably delayed and cancelled two cultural events in Tehran. The first was a well-publicized group exhibition of paintings commemorating the birthday of the beloved female poet, Forough Farrokhzad, scheduled to open in Tehran’s Vista Gallery on Friday, January 10. The exhibition, which promised to be a rich ...
Four Christian Converts Arrested in Karaj on New Year’s Eve
Plainclothes officers arrested four Christian converts in a village outside of Tehran on Tuesday, December 31, 2013, a source close to Iran’s Christian converts told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. Sara Rahiminejad, Majid Sheidaee, Mostafa Nadri, and George Issaian were violently arrested at the latter’s home in Fardis village of Karaj, 36 ...
Rouhani’s Citizenship Rights Charter Contradicts Constitution, Says Iranian Lawyer
In an exclusive interview with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, lawyer and human rights activist Mehrangiz Kar analyzed the various problems with the draft Citizenship Rights Charter presented by Hassan Rouhani last November, saying it is a “hodge podge of things” that both repeats and contradicts the Constitution, and it needs a ...
Basij Commander Admits Forces Shot at 2009 Protesters
After more than four years of denying that Basij and other security forces took direct shots at the 2009 post-election protesters, last week’s statements by the unnamed Commander of District 117-Neynava of IRGC’s Tehran Region, admitting for the first time that the men on top of a Basij base in Tehran shot at the protesters, ...
Intelligence Ministry May Be More “Flexible” in Respecting Human Rights, Says Lawyer
Ghasem Sholeh Sadi, lawyer and former Member of the Parliament and political prisoner, told the International Campaign for Human Rights that he is somewhat optimistic about the consequences of the draft Citizenship Rights Charter presented by President Hassan Rouhani in November. ...
Rights Lawyer Says Iran Needs Existing Laws Enforced, not a New Charter
Lawyer and member of the Defenders of Human Rights Center Mahnaz Parakand discussed necessary steps for implementing human rights protections in an interview with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. “Before thinking to design a Citizenship Rights Charter, we must implement the Iranian Constitution, even with all its shortcomings. Many of the articles ...
Rights Lawyer Says Citizenship Rights Charter Is “Distraction”
In an interview with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, lawyer Khalil Bahramian, who has represented many political prisoners, said the draft Citizenship Rights Charter is just a distraction for the public. ...
Officals and Clerics Verbally Attack and Threaten 2009 Protestors and Leaders
Over the past few days, influential Iranian leaders have unleashed a fresh wave of verbal attacks and threats against the 2009 post-election protesters and their leaders, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi. The threats and attacks have included a hardliner cleric’s volunteering to hang Mousavi and Karroubi, as well as others stating that the chant ...
Rouhani Delivered on Rights Charter Promise “Immediately,” but Issue Is with Implementation, Says Lawyer
In an interview with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, lawyer Farideh Gheirat said that the draft Citizenship Rights Charter presented by Hassan Rouhani in November is almost exactly like the Iranian Constitution in substance, just with different phrasing. Gheirat added that there was no need to draft a new Charter that was ...
Guardian Council May Approve Citizenship Rights Charter, Says Lawyer
President Hassan Rouhani’s draft Citizenship Rights Charter, currently before the Guardian Council, may win approval, lawyer and head of the National Iranian Bar Associations Union Bahman Keshavarz told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. ...
Prominent Activist Cites Numerous Omissions in Citizen Rights Charter
In a interview with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, Narges Mohammadi, human rights activist and spokesperson for the Defenders of Human Rights Center, acknowledged that the Citizen Rights Charter was a positive step, but noted that the draft document contained many serious shortcomings that needed to be addressed. ...
Cartoon 71: “Dialogue Among Civilizati—!”
Former Iranian President Seyed Mohammad Khatami's foreign travel ban has received fresh attention since Nelson Mandela's funeral. Mohammad Khatami, president of Iran from 1997 to 2005, introduced the idea of a Dialogue Among Civilizations as a response to Samuel P. Huntington’s theory of ...